Is your subzero polar vortex melting away? Then it must be time for my 7th (nearly)annual Megaman Valentine's Day Contest!

So our 25th anniversary celebration was a dud. None of the merchandise, nor even a Fabio-lous Jewel Man, seemed to brighten the day of even the most hopeful fan. While I can’t give away a new game as a prize - and I know some of you are probably sick of the merchandise I’ll be giving away – we can still show our love and appreciation for a franchise that has and will continue to be a part of our favorite gaming memories.

I’m going to add a slight addition to the format this year. As usual, there will be two categories, one that focuses on humor, and one that focuses on talent. But I’m also going to mix it up with a random raffle category, too. Just enter a drawing in that category and you have an equal chance at winning no matter what your skill level or humor is.

I threw together my usual deviantART poll for category themes, and I’ll run with the top two. There was only one clear winning theme, and it’ll be used for the Talent competition.

PRIZES:

This year the “pick your prize at this price” option more or less goes away. Although, if the winner already has what I am offering, and prefers to replace it with a cash prize through Paypal, it will be an option. Overall, I’m going pretty big this year, paying out well over $350 USD in goods for you guys. The prizes for each category will be listed separately below.

RULES:

Three categories, which you are allowed to enter in each if you would like. If you place in one category, you will be automatically disqualified from the other, for reasons of fairness, and to give other people a chance to win a prize. The category rundown is as follows:

Way back in early 19XX, a young, poor artbot named Rock Light won tickets aboard the luxury cruise liner, DWNTitanicMach2. After the ship struck the small, iceberg-tipped head of an arctic robot later known as Chill Man, Rock saved the life of _____, keeping them from falling off the edge of the ship. The two struck up a relationship and _____ marveled at the beautiful foreign women that filled Rock’s sketchbooks. Rock was on Mighty Cloud 9, and felt like he was the ‘King of the World.’ _____’s billionaire playbot fiancé King begged to differ... Finally, after days of coy advances, ______ realized her true feelings for Rock and asked the artist, “Rock, draw me like one of your Reploid girls.”

So, since I guess you guys really wanted to see how far I’d push this category, I’m gonna let you draw some sexy pics. As long as they are artistic and suitable for dA, I’ll allow it. That doesn’t mean you have to draw totally risqué pics, or that one will even win. Ladies, you can reverse the scenario and draw male pinups if you prefer.

This theme will work as the talent category, so the judging will focus on the effort and skill you put into you piece. Prove to us you can outdo the Van Goghbots, Super Fighting Rubens and Dr. Monets of the artistic world.

- Draw your favorite Megaman villain carrying off another character, or characters, in the name of love and companionship - Make sure it is clear they are never gonna give them up, never gonna let them down, never gonna run around and desert them, never gonna make them cry, never gonna say goodbye, and last but certainly not least, never gonna tell a lie and hurt them. - Drawing big hair, bigger microphones, trenchcoats, sunglasses, backflipping bartenders, and smooth dancing is purely optional.

Kidnapping is pretty common in the Megaman Universe, if not video games in general. Besides a bunch of Robot Masters, Wily has nabbed Kalinka, Roll, Light…well, who hasn’t he...? Zero’s body has been stolen. Tiesel has been taken by Glyde. Shademan.EXE swooped in for Roll.EXE. Luna was whisked away by the phantom Hyde. I could go on for a while with canon examples.

But why did they do it? Well, that’s easy. All those villains are pretty lonely, and now they just want someone to hold on to this Valentine’s Day. And to make it worse, they all have a catchy 198X song by the one-hit-wonder popbot Rock Astley stuck in their heads. Yes, that Rock Astley. Who became an Internet phenomenon thanks to the meme known as “RockRollN.”

By no means are you required to allude to the music video linked above visually in your art. For some it would add to the humor, for others, probably not. The key concept in this category is merely a villain seizing the object of their desire in the most humorous way possible.

Sorry, another music reference in this category. But my watchers voted for it. This is gonna be the raffle category. The requirements are painfully easy. MegaMom Star Force imagery.

So, this prize better be good to make us draw something in this category just to appease you Miyabi, you say. OK, fine. I’ll roll the dice and hope I can still find this for a good price next month, without it inflating in rarity too much. Otherwise the winner will probably be getting my set.

Only submit your own work, as usual. Any character, major or minor, from any series is allowed, to go along with the characters required in each category. Pairing characters from different series is totally allowed. Again, to be fair to all, same-gender groupings are allowed.

Participants are allowed to submit from all over the world. It’s easier for me to get prizes to US entrants however, because international shipping is complicated and pricey, but I’ll do what I can for you guys who aren’t in the States. In some cases, a cash payout through Paypal might be the best option for your winnings.

Entries do not need to be colored, but it is preferred.

Entries can either be e-mailed to me at rock2125[at]hotmail[dot]com, or you can just PM/note me a link to your pic.

DO NOT post your pics in this thread, in your fanart threads or dA galleries until the contest is over. This is the fairest way for competitive reasons. I prefer to keep them all secret until the deadline has passed.

I'll edit a confirmed entry list in this thread when I receive them. So you won't be in the dark about whether or not I've received your entry.

DEADLINE:

The deadline for this contest will be Friday, February 14th, by 11:59PM CSTIS OVER. This gives you exactly a full month + one week from this announcement to submit your artwork.

MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

As usual, If you don't plan to enter, but would like to help me judge, please let me know through PM or mention so in this journal. Thanks to all my usual judges, and I’ll gladly let you help with it again if you’re willing.

*RPM Judge Team, Assemble!*

Bug me with questions if you have any. Please join in, and good luck to everyone who enters!

@Mirby Puckett: Yes, I would allow people to defer down to a different prize level, if that's what they prefer. Same for the figures, so if for example the first place winner has a thing for Freezeman, they can choose it over Shademan. But I did mostly align the prizes according to value, so as long as the winner is cool with getting something that doesn't cost as much, that's fine.

Posted on: January 18, 2014, 09:10:21 PMShameless bump just to remind RPM'ers that tomorrow is deadline day. Entries need to be submitted to me before the clock hits midnight tomorrow. We've already got 13 entries, most of them of the pinup variety. So if you want a chance at winning the EXE prototype figures or the X Sound Box, you have a rather great chance if you put something together by tomorrow. Just sayin'.

PB and Doc, I'll PM you guys with everything you need to see on Saturday. Looks like it'll just be the 3 of us this year.

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Previously was K.G. Inafunbags, Captain Heady, Damon Gant, and the guy who liked the blue bomber solely for the reason that he was blue.

You're gonna have to do a pretty quick campaign for more bribes, because they have not submitted enough of your bribes, I can tell you that much.

Hey, Quickie. Judge? There, I did it for you. By all means, if one or two others still want to help with that, I'm happy for the assistance and possible female viewpoints to our chauvinistic grading of pinup art.

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Previously was K.G. Inafunbags, Captain Heady, Damon Gant, and the guy who liked the blue bomber solely for the reason that he was blue.

@ Mirby: It's just about 11PM CST as I type this, so that gives you 1 full day and about an hour to spare. Just make sure it's sent before you go to bed tomorrow. As I have so few entries for the humor category right now, I'm fine if the object of desire is something other than a character.

@Quicky and Phi: Sweet, thank you both for hopping on! You'll be PM'd Saturday as well with the rundown and a link to all the entries. As of now, it's just the talent category that's going to be a challenge, and that's why I prefer to have a few extra viewpoints.

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Previously was K.G. Inafunbags, Captain Heady, Damon Gant, and the guy who liked the blue bomber solely for the reason that he was blue.

Contest has been officially closed for new entries. Thanks to everyone once again for such fantastic participation, considering the franchise and fandom has been so stagnant lately. You might not have drawn Doc enough Ailes, nor me enough Akanes, nor enough AilexAkane action , but I am grateful to everyone for making this a great year. How the heck do I top this next year?

Judges, I have sent you a PM with all the titillating imagery and a rundown of what I need from you.

Contestants, sit tight. We'll try to announce winners as soon as we can. I'd still prefer you wait until the results before publicly showing your pics, but it is your art and your choice right now.

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Previously was K.G. Inafunbags, Captain Heady, Damon Gant, and the guy who liked the blue bomber solely for the reason that he was blue.